What is the connection between communalism1 in India and Kashmir?
THE KASHMIRIS have no history of communalism. Kashmiriyat, the culture of the Kashmiris, is founded in a spirituality that stems from the story of two saints: one a Hindu woman poet, the other was a Muslim saint. This is the pillar of Kashmiri spiritual foundation: Kashmiriyat. There are also historical accounts of Muslim kings in Kashmir banning the eating of beef in order to build harmony with the Hindus. In Amarnath, one of the most important spiritual places for Hindus, you ll be surprised to know that there are no Hindus living there. Hindus have never lived there! The custodians of this major Hindu place of pilgrimage are Muslims. Even in 1947, when the whole subcontinent was involved in a bloodbath, even in Jammu, where thousands of Muslims were killed by Hindu chauvinists, not a single Hindu was killed in Kashmir, where Muslims are a majority. Even Mahatma Gandhi recognized this when he said that he saw a ray of hope in Kashmir. But the government of India has used communalism
